Cover Story
Toast-worthy events
Holiday cheer doesn’t have to disappear with your last sip of eggnog. Before you figure out where you’ll stuff your string lights and blow-up snowman, take a night to commemorate your future. And that doesn’t mean you have to do it alone. Check out these New Year’s celebrations happening throughout Oklahoma City. Take me back…
Council elections
Oklahoma City’s northeast and southwest wards will hold city council elections in February, while two other wards will automatically retain their current council member after no challengers emerged. Elections will be held Feb. 11 in wards 3 and 7. A candidate is elected if they receive more than 50 percent of the vote. The top…
Pride of OK
This week, lawmakers representing Oklahoma once again garnered national attention with outspoken rhetoric that sheds less than positive light on the state. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, in an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union, exchanged tense words with co-host Jake Tapper on several key issues. Sporting a Mullin Ranch jacket on national television, Mullin refuted…
A fair election process for all
I’m a lifelong Oklahoman and a former educator. I also had the privilege of serving in our State Senate for six years. I believed then and now that people should always come before politics. Unfortunately, I had a front-row seat to how our current election system is failing voters. In fact, our closed primary system…
Nutcracker revamped
The Nutcracker Dec. 14-23 Civic Center Music Hall 201 N. Walker Ave. 405-594-8300 okcciviccenter.com $29-$128 There’s something magical about The Nutcracker that keeps audiences coming back year after year. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is practically ubiquitous in winter, the ballet’s soundtrack playing over mall sound systems or, inevitably, in my office on repeat. Ballet companies start…
Swift expansion
For the past year, a fleet of charcoal-colored buses have zipped along much of Classen Boulevard and Northwest Expressway as part of Oklahoma City’s first bus rapid transit line. Using some bus-only lanes and traffic signal prioritization, the new bus line is meant to somewhat mimic a subway or streetcar. Fares are paid before boarding,…
French connection
Three words made La Baguette Bistro’s Michel Buthion leave France for Oklahoma in 1979. “A wild woman,” he said. Buthion made life-changing connections when students from Oklahoma University visited France during a summer exchange program. Later, when he and a friend were traveling from Paris to Singapore, the pair decided to take a detour to…
Novel mimicry
In the first third of Tulsa attorney Greg Laird’s debut novel One Life for Another, the protagonist’s mentor says, “Don’t ever forget, if you don’t win this case, your client will be executed. … I assure you that it is a feeling to which you will never get accustomed, and despite handling cases with insurmountable…
Vintage Plaza
At this time of year, the Plaza District unfolds like a glittering runway along NW 16th Street, its vibrant murals and twinkling holiday lights bordering a collection of storefronts and beloved restaurants. Among them are some of Oklahoma City’s best vintage and thrift stores — seven of them, all within walking distance. When holiday shoppers…
Airspace hazard
A developer’s quest to build the nation’s tallest building in Oklahoma City is receiving pushback from the city’s airport agency, which claims it might be too tall for approaching airplanes to navigate. At 1,907 feet, the proposed Legends Tower would be twice as tall as any building in the city and serve as a monument…
Virtually dropkicked
Have you ever wanted something as badly as Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters wanted to be Donald Trump’s education secretary? Sadly, Walters’ dream of moving from making videos from the front seat of his Camry to tweeting in the back of a limo with the president-elect won’t come to be. Trump chose Linda McMahon, the…
Model voting?
It was another good election for Oklahoma Republicans, who didn’t have to stay up late on Election Day last month to learn they would remain in power. Not only was that outcome expected, but the state’s election results typically get posted within a few hours of the polls closing. In recent years, as some swing…
Satisfactory sandwich
The Goose Sandies + Bar The 1210 N. Hudson Ave. goosedeli.com 405-724-8384 What works: Thanks to a knockout condiment combo, The Goose’s chicken sandwich is one you’ll want to come back for. What needs work: While not meant to be the main attraction, the sandwich bread left something to be desired. Tip: If you want…
Red herrings
It’s the most wonderful time of year: crazy bill filing season! As another legislative session approaches, many of Oklahoma’s nuttiest lawmakers will start filing bills with no chance of passage in the hopes of drumming up headlines, which many news outlets will happily oblige. These crazy bills give some lawmakers a chance to go back…
Christmas cooking
If you’ve already started stressing over Christmas dinner, you can stop now. These seven metro restaurants are open on Christmas Day and offer respite in the form of delicious food that you didn’t cook. Rally Kitchen + Bar 542 S. University Blvd., Norman nounhotel.com/dining/rally-kitchen-bar 405-857-8575 This Noun Hotel restaurant’s Crimson Christmas! dinner includes four courses…
Work ethic
Gift Raps 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 27 Resonant Head 400 SW 25th St., Suite A resonanthead.com Free with donation An OKC holiday tradition for a decade, concert and charity drive Gift Raps keeps on giving. “The mission is still the same,” said event founder and hip-hop artist Jabee. “The biggest thing now is that it’s…
Not Christmas
’Tis the season for Christmas flicks, but c’mon: How many more times can you watch Jimmy Stewart’s life get destroyed by that horrible Uncle Billy or see whether Ralphie gets that Red Ryder BB gun? Terrific films, certainly, but enough already. Even a more contemporary classic like Elf has become ho ho ho hum. What…
Local loot
Fun holiday fact: No adult on your shopping list actually wants you to give them a gift, because they don’t have anywhere to put it. Unfortunately, we have to go on buying our loved ones things they don’t want or need this time of year so they don’t think we secretly hate them. Fortunately, if…
Free Will Astrology: Week of December 12
Homework: What will you revive, rejuvenate, and renovate in 2025? Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com ARIES (March 21-April 19) If you were walking down the street and spied a coin lying on the sidewalk, would you bend down to pick it up? If you’re like most people, you wouldn’t. It’s too much trouble to exert yourself for an object…
